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Important to note that repetitions are never exactly the same: new connections are found each time. Also, choosing what to repeat seems important. Drilling in what is already understood may help you become a good teacher but how does one develop new and original ideas?
TL;DR: Study foundational blocks by repeating then until you understand. Keep repeating as you build knowledge and move to "harder" things. I like the message, but not the messenger. Articles like this, in my point of view, fail to delivery their messages in a better way because they are simply too long and with too much noise for my taste. The point he is trying to get across could be explained in a simpler way with…
Some people extoll the virtues of long-form writing. But even a site like HN is far too information dense to spend so much time reading one article. It's a different matter when we're learning something of an academic nature, of course. That's why I love summaries such as yours.
This is the extension I use (it lets you rewind with k and pause with space -- helpful for getting more understanding out):
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/spreed-speed-read-...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I remember first learning Quantum Field Theory. One week, my head would ache from what I was reading but by the next week, that bit would be incorporated into new parts, so the "confusing stuff" become foundation for the next week's confusing stuff. Eventually, it became intuitive.
How do you learn quantum field theory? I took a tiny amount of QM in school - basically, solving the Schrodinger equation for a few simple systems. What's the next step?
TL;DR: Study foundational blocks by repeating then until you understand. Keep repeating as you build knowledge and move to "harder" things. I like the message, but not the messenger. Articles like this, in my point of view, fail to delivery their messages in a better way because they are simply too long and with too much noise for my taste. The point he is trying to get across could be explained in a simpler way with…
Not a big deal but was written by Barbara Oakley (woman) "As a young woman with a yen for learning language and no money or skills to speak of ..."
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I remember first learning Quantum Field Theory. One week, my head would ache from what I was reading but by the next week, that bit would be incorporated into new parts, so the "confusing stuff" become foundation for the next week's confusing stuff. Eventually, it became intuitive.
How do you learn quantum field theory? I took a tiny amount of QM in school - basically, solving the Schrodinger equation for a few simple systems. What's the next step?
If you're going to start learning QFT, I suggest you try to understand time-dependent perturbation theory as much as possible. Also, be sure you have a handle on special relativity and scattering theory. QFT that most people use is really those things combined.
I am just not sure it is sufficient. Age/talent/nature do play a big factor.
Also I suspect starting to learn serious math at age of 26 she is an outlier.
Russian is my 2nd language (English is my 3rd) and both I learned through repetition via reading prodigious amounts in each language.
My Spanish is horrible because I only studied it in high school and never did read any serious books in Spanish.
Now in my 40s I find that learning German is a formidable task even to read Brothers Grimm much less some philosophical works that I had hoped to.
Part of the problem is lack of time (6 months of Duolingo is not enough that's for sure) but also my brain seems to require more repetition to acquire the same knowledge that my daughter picks up near instantly.
TL;DR: Study foundational blocks by repeating then until you understand. Keep repeating as you build knowledge and move to "harder" things. I like the message, but not the messenger. Articles like this, in my point of view, fail to delivery their messages in a better way because they are simply too long and with too much noise for my taste. The point he is trying to get across could be explained in a simpler way with…
- expanding on repeating: Enumerate and solve/memorize every permutation of a problem/theorem/etc. (ex: in f = ma, what happens if m is high and a is low and the reverse). Each case becomes a subroutine (or a chunk) in your brain that quickly fires once memorized.
- explaining your understanding of a topic does not translate to the ability of applying that understanding to an actual application
The writing was superfluous and can be summed up in 2-3 points, although enjoyable to read as a story if you're up for that.
I'm a bit disappointed because the title is misleading. The author didn't really rewire her brain. She just spent more time learning and set a different goal (of trying out every permutation instead of simply doing well on tests) than her classmates.
2) The US only recently moved from memorization and rote learning to focus on understanding for a reason. The reason ultimately is the students werent excelling under that regime.
She also a upcoming book titled 'Mindshift: Break Through Obstacles to Learning and Discover Your Hidden Potential': https://www.amazon.com/Mindshift-Obstacles-Learning-Discover...